Rakuya had just slipped into waterform with his Sea Sovereign mastery when the voices of five old men reached him. He was sitting inside a teacup, the liquid his bridge into the room. Since someone was present, he didn't show himself. He stayed in the cup and watched.
One look at the five and he wasn't shocked so much as faintly unsurprised.
The Five Elders. So the guess was right. Those undying fossils had eaten a mutated Life Fruit and gotten immortality.
Back before he crossed into this world, Rakuya had read every theory he could find about them. The most convincing said the Elders had taken a Life Fruit and could not die. He had bought that then. Now it was confirmed.
Endless life.
Didn't make things any less of a headache.
They would revive and he would kill them again. What annoyed him was the looping extra life. He needed a way to erase all five at once.
He listened carefully.
"No matter," said the short Elder with an easy air. "Even together we could not break the tree. Ryuyun cannot do it alone. The site is hidden. He will never find it, much less destroy it."
"This is no small matter," another said. "What we must do now is rebuild the World Government and the Holy Land at once, then bring the Celestial Dragons back. Leave them there and they will go mad."
"We used spatial displacement. We will need fifteen days before we can cast it again. The Dragons cannot wait that long."
"Then one of us escorts the fleet admiral and the admirals to retrieve them in secret. That will be safest."
"I agree."
"As do I."
They went back and forth, surprisingly harmonious.
"Set a time," one concluded. "Ten days from now. Five for the rebuild. Five for us to return to peak. Otherwise, some little accident might catch us weak."
"Agreed. We revived, but our power is thinned. Recover quickly. This world still needs our rule."
Listening from the cup, Rakuya filed it all away. The "tree" in their mouths had to be the Devil Fruit tree. As for bringing back the Celestial Dragons, that tracked with the spatial ripple he had felt ten days ago when his meteor fell. The Elders had burned themselves to yank the Dragons to a safe place.
He had crushed the Government and toppled the Holy Land, but the worst of the worst had slipped the net. The slaves and servants had died. The buildings were dust. The true targets were untouched.
Damn it. They got away.
Next time he ranked up, he would use Samsara Rebirth to bring back the slaves and servants, then wipe away the terror of their last moments. It was the least he could do to balance the scales.
If the Elders would die to protect the Dragons, then the Dragons carried some secret heavy enough to frighten the Five. Or some leverage that could kill them for good.
He didn't know what the lever was. Knowing there was one was better than ignorance. He would dig there next.
Most crucial of all, he now knew the schedule. In ten days, the Five Elders would lead Marine Headquarters to fetch the hidden Celestial Dragons.
Knowing that, how could he not crash the party and jam their plan?
He had come to rattle Steel Bone Kong for the eight billion berries the man owed him. Instead he had stumbled into something far more valuable than money.
He could already see the Elders hopping mad in a few days.
As he mused, the bald Elder suddenly snapped upright, eyes hard. He slashed a palm. "Who is there?"
The cup burst with a crack. Water slapped the wall in a sheet. It didn't so much as graze Rakuya.
"What are you doing?"
"Lost your mind?"
The other four glared at the bald one.
"I felt eyes on us," he said, frowning. "From that cup."
"Spied on?" The swordsman studied the shards and the splash, finding nothing.
"I sensed nothing."
"Nor I."
Four heads shook.
The bald Elder's face stayed dark.
"You imagined it," one soothed. "We have had shocks enough. Age brings mistakes."
"Yes. You were mistaken."
"There is no one here. And even if there were, how would he hide in water? Devil Fruit users fear the sea."
"Stop fretting. You were wrong."
They took turns talking him down until he muttered to himself, "Must have been my eyes. Getting old. Getting sloppy."
The five withdrew to recover their strength.
By then, Rakuya had already flowed out of Sabaody and slipped back into Fishman Island.
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